


How Long We Live

by Cupcakemolotov



Series: come alive [1]
Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Emotional and Mental Torture, F/M, Hayley Bashing, Not Canon Compliant, Torture, Tyler Bashing, no love triangles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-09
Updated: 2018-03-09
Packaged: 2019-03-28 23:12:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13914192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cupcakemolotov/pseuds/Cupcakemolotov
Summary: When Klaus goes to collect Tyler, he finds him in the most compromising of places.





	How Long We Live

The door opened with a male grunt followed by the breathy, heavy moan of a woman. The sound of stumbling footsteps and erratic heartbeats. They brought with them the heavy smell of the woods, the unmistakable scent of sex and the faintest trace of blood. He knew the moment they saw him, the sudden silence cutting through the air like a knife. The hammering of their jackrabbit hearts.

"Hello, Tyler."

Klaus finished the shading for his sketch and looked up, taking in his wayward hybrid's stunned silence. Tyler looked disheveled, clothing ripped in places, leaves and dirt smeared across his visible skin. The she-wolf behind him was in a similar state of undress, breasts nearly on display.

Lowering his legs to the floor, he canted his head to the side and smiled. "Am I interrupting something?"

Tyler's face was pale, jaw and shoulders locked up. Klaus watched in amusement as the girl made a move to shift closer to the door they'd locked behind them.

"I wouldn't," Klaus said mildly. "Making a run for it would just aggravate me. And you'd never make it out the door. Of course, if you'd like to have this conversation while healing injuries… the femur is such an interesting bone, I've been told it breaking it is comparable to childbirth. Shall we test it?"

"What are you doing here?" Tyler asked finally, fists clenching. "How'd you find me?"

"Sit." Klaus said, eyes lowering back to his sketch, pencil sliding across the page. "And don't worry about introductions. Hayley, wasn't it? Do cover yourself."

They sat across from him on the dingy little couch, Hayley holding the edges of her shirt together with a white knuckles grip. Her face was stark, but it was the calculation there instead of fear that amused him. He did so enjoy it when the children thought they could find his loopholes, wiggle out of their fate.

In all his years, only Katerina had surprised him… the blond, baby vampire in Mystic Falls something else. A tugging on long dead heartstrings. And wasn't that fascinating? That a creature like him could still feel. For a mere child with iron in her spine and fire in her eyes.

"Why are you here?" Tyler finally bit out. The false bravado was entertaining, but Klaus hadn't expected anything else. To cower now would be a disappointment.

Pity if Tyler was already broken, when they hadn't even started.

"Tyler, Tyler, Tyler," Klaus closed his notebook and shook his head, tsking. "Do you think me a fool? I cannot help but wonder at the youthful arrogance that drove you here, this belief that you could hide. Do you think I'm unaware of your schemes - ah, you did. Shall I humor you then? Why are you here in the wilds of the Appalachia's and not at home? Please, enlighten me."

Tyler said nothing, face stony.

"No?" Klaus glanced over at Hayley, considered the she-wolf next to him. "Does pretty little Caroline know of this particular indiscretion?"

"Leave Care out of this," Tyler said furiously, lunging to his feet.

"Sit." Klaus said firmly, iron crawling into his eyes. Tyler's face melted into shock as his body followed the order. Klaus steepled his fingers, smirked. "I think you'll find I can do whatever I want, Tyler. Do you think she loves you?"

"She'll never love you," Tyler ground out.

Klaus laughed, dimples flashing. "Ah, but that is where you are wrong. It won't be today, and it won't be tomorrow, but the creature that lives under Caroline's skin - it already belongs to me."

"Don't you touch her," Tyler warned.

"Or what? You'll fight me? Swear revenge? Kill me?" His voice was low, mocking as he continued to watch the defiant child in front of him. "A thousand years, and you imagine yourself to be the hero who'd take me down?"

Tyler was struggling with his rage, nails turning his palms bloody. Hayley on the other hand was silent - shoulders tense - but otherwise calm. Amused, he glanced back at Tyler.

"As for dear Caroline, I don't have to do a thing where she is concerned." Klaus shook his head. "When you return to Mystic Falls, you'll be heart broken of course, but it's time for you to move on. What this pack offers you - a belonging - well, that's more than a baby vampire can give you, isn't it?"

Tyler shook his head. "That will never happen, she'd never believe it."

Klaus arched both brows. "Here you are, finding companionship in the arms of a pale, inconsequential substitute, but you imagine she'd never believe you'd abandon her? Haven't you already down those seeds, with your disappearances?"

"She knows…" Tyler's jaw clicked close and Klaus leaned back.

"She knows that your trying to break the sire-bond? Of course she does. She'd even have encouraged it. Caroline has suffered before, at the hands of another. She'd hardly want to see another face the same fate." Klaus shrugged. "Particularly one she cares for, regardless of the uselessness of those feelings."

"What are you talking about?" Tyler said lowly, eyes confused.

"Oh Tyler, if you do not already know, it's hardly my place to educate you. The inner workings of Caroline Forbes are no longer of your concern."

"She'll know your involved." Tyler said flatly. "She knows I love her."

"Yes, I can see your devotion." He flicked his eyes to Hayley, arched a brow.

Tyler flushed, jaw clenching white. "It was a mistake."

"Oh, I'd certainly call it that. But it certainly was deliberate. What excuse did you plan? What plea for forgiveness… unless you'd hoped to keep this quiet?" Klaus clicked his tongue, shaking his head. "Caroline is hardly a fool, regardless of how any of you treat her. A man looks at a woman differently once he's seen her naked, when he's buried his cock inside her. But she's a forgiving soul, I imagine she'd try to let it go, to face your betrayal with her steel spine and soft heart. Thankfully we'll be skipping that step."

Wary now, Tyler pressed his hands to his thighs. "I'm not helping you. Not with the other hybrids, not with Caroline. I'm done."

Klaus laughed, smile bright and dimples flashing. "I think I'll miss your entertainment value if nothing else. Oh, Tyler. How shortsighted you are. Your mistake is to think in weeks, years. I see the world through centuries. A prize like Caroline is not won in a mere month, a decade. And those soft, shattered pieces of her heart will need time - time I'm willing to give."

Hayley shifted on the couch, brows tucking together in confusion, alarm starting to build behind her eyes. Klaus kicked up his feet, laced his fingers across his abdomen and breathed in her fear. Enjoyed it.

That's right, little wolf. One doesn't just walk away from a conversation like this - the monster laying out his weaknesses. There is no escaping this lair.

"Your silence - while appreciated - shows that you still lack any understanding. Let me help you. I'm not here because of Caroline, as you've always been the slightest of obstacles. I'm not even here because of your burning desire to break the sire-bond, as you'd still have returned to Mystic Falls, to save the others." Klaus turned his head, looked at Hayley. "Tell me, Hayley, whose game are you playing?"

Tyler blinked, twisted. "Hayley?"

"I'm not playing anything," she stuttered. "I'm only here because of Tyler."

"Now, the first is clearly a lie. But I believe the second. Katherine would hardly have use for you - you're not as good at this game as you think. Katherine would use you as canon fodder, little else. So this means that someone else is interested in my hybrids, has thought to entangle themselves into my plans. How unfortunate for them. Who is it?"

Hayley shook her head, fists clenching. "No one."

Tyler stared at her. "Your working for someone? I thought…"

"That she was helping you out of the goodness of her heart? I can't imagine her mouth to be that talented." Klaus clucked his tongue in amusement. "Teenagers. The truth now, Hayley. I'm sure you've figured out that your life was forfeit the moment you laid eyes on what is mine. How quickly I grant your death has yet to be seen. Have you ever seen a man pull out their own tongue? It takes time, as the muscle is stubborn. It's a touch messy, and bleeding out takes time, but watching blood spill from lips, coating teeth can be inspiring. And there are so many other, painful ways one can grind their own bones. Shall I walk you through them?"

Her face was bone-white, lashes flickering as she looked for a way out. He honestly hoped she'd try. Finally, she shook her head.

"He's no one. Just a professor."

"And what did he promise you in return?"

She shook her head again, eyes lowering.

"Hayley, whatever his promise, I can assure you it will not come about. But I can be generous, let you choose the form of your death. Your choice."

"He's interested in someone named Silas," she whispered. "I don't know what he wants. I was to receive the details when we went back to Mystic Falls."

Klaus paused. "Now that is a surprise."

"Who is Silas?" Tyler asked, eyes flickering between them.

"No one of your concern." Klaus said, flipping open his phone to send a quick text. "The professors name?"

"Shane."

"Thank you, Hayley. Now be a good girl and sit quiet while I deal with Tyler. It appears tonight's entertainment must come to an end much quicker than I'd have preferred." Standing, he walked over to Tyler and smiled.

"The utter joy of compulsion, Tyler, is while it lingers in the dark crevices of your brain - settles in you marrow like poison - it is undetectable. It waits, a silent shadow." Klaus dimpled, eyes dancing. "Why should I depend on something flimsy, as breakable as a sire-bond to fulfill my wants when I can command obedience?"

"Im on vervain." Tyler said stiffly.

"Are you?" Klaus leaned forward, held Tyler's gaze with dark eyes. "Shove your hand into Hayley's chest, wrap your fingers around her heart and remove it."

Hayley lunged to her feet and Klaus caught her by her hair, slamming her to the floor. Ignoring her screams, he smiled as Tyler stood, eyes full of horror. "Go on."

Wasn't it amusing, the way she twisted about like a fish on land, scrambling for leverage even as Tyler sunk his fingers into her chest, hybrid features on display as he pulled out her heart.

"Eat it."

Hand shaking, Tyler brought the hot flesh to his lips, but into still beating muscle. Leaving Tyler for a moment, Klaus scooped up his sketch pad before crouching next to the horrified Hybrid. His first. Opening his sketch, he showed it to Tyler as he continued to eat.

"Beautiful, isn't she?"

The sketch of Caroline was only half-finished, the long lines of her sprawled out on her stomach, hair a riotous mess of curls as she slept, sheets draped to show the bare skin of her back, the angle of her shoulder blades. A hint of breast. But it was the content expression on her face, the slightly parted lips that he liked the best.

"How does it feel to know you've lost?" Klaus asked curiously. "To know that you've lead me to a new pack of willing converts, that you're life is utterly useless and is now measured in weeks instead of decades?"

Tyler looked at him from glazed eyes, face smeared with blood. "I killed her."

"And then you ate her heart. Well done. You see Tyler, you were never without a compulsion. It's been rotting you from the inside out for weeks." He patted Tyler's cheek, eyes like iron. "You thought for five hundred years, I've plotted and I weighed my chances on thirteen, teenage werewolves? On loyalty? You're mine, Tyler Lockwood, down to the marrow of your bones. They all are."

Tyler shook his head, but said nothing, something defeated and broken behind his eyes. Klaus stood and smiled at him.

"I'll be seeing you soon, and remember what I told you. Caroline is mine. Give her the truth, your new truth, and then it'll be time for you to return here. Maybe I'll even let you die."

Humming, Klaus left the little cottage, satisfied with that nights work. The unearthing of another enemy. When would the humans learn that some monsters should remain asleep?


End file.
